News Release

Helena, Mont.—In 2008, the Obama campaign received plenty of attention for its fundraising strategy. That campaign, however, wasn't the only one to shatter fundraising records. Campaigns for state legislatures raised a record-breaking $1 billion for the first time ever, according to a new report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, titled "An Overview of State Campaigns, 2007-2008."

The record-breaking amounts raised for state legislative campaigns is part of an ongoing trend of increased fundraising. The money raised in 2008 was 9 percent more than was raised in 2006 and 26 percent more than was raised in 2004 (the last comparable election cycle).

The report also found that although nearly two-thirds of the legislative races were contested, just one-third of those races were monetarily competitive (where the winner raised less than twice as much money as his or her opponent).

In keeping with past trends, money and incumbency were the two largest indicators of electoral success in 2008. Incumbents who had a larger war chest than their opponents were re-elected 94 percent of the time.

Voters considered 210 ballot measures in 2007 and 2008. These measures covered issues such as property taxes, same-sex marriage and school funding. Committees that organized to oppose or promote ballot measures raised $869 million, up dramatically from the $648 million raised in 2005-2006. Gambling-related measures drew the most money, bringing in $273 million in nine states, followed by same-sex marriage measures, which generated $120.4 million in three states.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics collects and analyzes campaign contribution information on state-level candidates, political party committees, and ballot committees. Its free, searchable database of contributions, as well as the full text of this report, is available at FollowTheMoney.org.